Greymouth to Franz Josef

Bright and early start and off for a run up the coast. Feels like 0 degrees and the sun ain't up yet. Off we go!

We finish up and say hi to some local horses  before checking out.

We cruise around the town and grab the obligatory second breakfast (coffee and a cheese scone) before making our way North up the coast to Punakaiki.

We arrive and jump out to check out the Pancake Rocks formations. Some very cool coastline. The water is pretty brown though. Probably a decent spot for swimming.

Back down the coast again and into Greymouth for a quick lunch (Subway and then the local bakery) and then down South we go.

We head for Hokitika Gorge, inland across some bare pasture lands before hitting the side of a mountain range.

We start the track and meet our first suspension bridge of the trip. It's suspended high above the bluest river we've ever seen. Some would say its GORGEeous.

We head down to have a closer look, taking in the sign saying "we WILL die if we get in the water" . Some cool photos and we continue up the path taking it all in. NZ scenery has started with a bang here.

Back we go and onwards to our destination for the night, Franz Josef, ready for glacier stuff the next day.

We rock up just on sunset and say hello to the new local horses. Surrounded by mountains and on the banks of a river, this little cabin is perfect.

We settle in, cook some food and lock ourselves in for the night with a few games of Catan.